'Police working towards freer traffic movement this year'

City Police Commissioner M Chandra Sekhar said that the priority of the police in 2017 is to ease traffic congestion in the city.

He said that the police are trying to identify sites for bus stops and parking places for vehicles.

“Ensuring considerable reduction in road accident cases is also a priority for 2017. In 2016, fatal accidents reduced by 17% compared to previous year while non-fatal accidents reduced by 6.5%; fatal accident death cases reported in City Police Commissionerate limits were 171 in 2015 and 141 in 2016. The number of injured in road accidents in 2015 was 1,439 and 1,253 in 2016,” the officer said. Attributing the reduction in road accidents to scientific analysis of accident-prone areas, Chandra Sekhar said barricades were placed at importation junctions to reduce the speed.

He said that 2016 saw a rise of 387% in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances cases – from 16.65 kg drug seized in 2015 to 109.23 kg in 2016. This is due to increased public awareness and increased surveillance on old offenders. Under COTPA, 2,711 cases were booked in 2015 and 8,830 in 2016. In 2015, three persons were booked under Goonda Act while in 2016, it was 16. In 2015, there were 25 murders but 24 in 2016. Even in sexual assault cases, it was 17 in 2015 and 15 in 2016.

He added that 369 police personnel were promoted in 2016, 139 civil police constables and 254 armed police constables were recruited till date. The recruitment drive is on, the commissioner added.